The Honkin' Huge White Panels of Death. Part 1.

 I am  still doing windows here in sewing land.  I know it looks like I have just been making clothing but  in the background there are windows going on. 

I showed you some cushions a few weeks ago that I did for Judy & Rob's NC cottage. I am now working on the windows. I will be making  pinch pleated panels, banded on the sides in blue denim. There will be buttons in denim up at the pleats. They are going to be AMAZING!

White duck , double width, pinch pleat panels. The very description makes me almost break out in hives.  There is a lot that goes into these.

The panels will look just like these that I made last year, but with blue denim on the sides & buttons. 

I thought I would take pictures while I was working on them to show you what goes into these monsters  beauties. 

First:

I ordered 41.5 yards of fabric. Why so many yards you ask? Well, I will be doing three  sliding glass doors in this fabric.  There will be a set for the great room, the guest room and the granddaughters room. each set takes 11/5 yards. Plus there are valances in the great room, and cording for cushions. 

The UPS man loves me. Have you ever lifted 41.5 yards of heavy fabric?    When I work with huge bolts I just flop them onto the floor and roll them around. He actually had to lift it from the truck to my porch. Poor guy. 

Next:

I clean the entire area  that I will be working in. I roll out fabric in the living room, so I vacuum that area super well. The I also clean up the dining room, scrub the table and vacuum. I usually do larger work on the dining table. It is cafe height, it is easier to work on than my sewing table. And so much easier on my back!

Now these panels are pure white.  So on the days where I am working on these, I cannot wear any make-up or hair products, so that it does not get anywhere on the fabric. I also cannot wear colored fingernail polish as  the fabric is thick and if I run my nails across it like to brush off threads , the polish  can leave a streak on the fabric.  I also wash my hands often so that any oils or anything do not transfer to the fabric. My hands & nails look horrible right now as this fabric is really drying on the skin. Plus the constant washing. 

 I roll out the fabric and check it for flaws. On printed fabric, this isn't as much of an issue. On pure white fabric, it is. They stick out and can ruin a perfectly made panel.  And let me tell ya, my panels are perfect. I guarantee that when I deliver these babies, they will be pristine. No a spot anywhere. 

Look here: this is a huge flaw. The red  is actually woven into the fabric, so this happened at manufacturing. Ugh. I can't cut it out, I have to try to go around it. So what I do when I find flaws is  put a big safety pin  on the flaw.  The pin helps me to spot it easily when working. Then as I cut it out or make it, I try to do it so the flaw is cut away or hidden somewhere.  I did add in a bit of extra fabric when we ordered to compensate for this. Fabric can arrive with flaws and the companies consider this ok. They tell you to to order more in case there are flaws.  On this bolt, I have only seen red and blue threads in it. The last time I ordered this fabric, I actually had to order more yardage because when I arrived there was a HUGE obvious flaw in the weaving that ran across the fabric and there was no way I could hide it in a hem or seam.

This is my assistant, Sophie. She was trying to convince me to play instead of work. Usually, I let her outside when  I vacuum and lay the fabric on the floor. Black dog and white fabric do not mix:) I let her back in when the fabric is up on the table.

Hey mom- don't you want to play?? I  have my santa squeaky!
 Put down all that white stuff and come play! Squeak Squeak! 

Here the lengths are being sewn together at the sides.  This fabric is 54 inches wide. I cut the length that I need twice and then sew it together. You end up with a huge wide panel.

I try to keep as much of the fabric up on the table as possible but it is heavy. So I sew  a foot or two and then stop re-arrange, move the fabric up on the table and then sew some more.

Once I have the face fabric done, I do the same to the lining, and interlining if there is some. We did not interline these panels as this set of glass doors has an overhang above it to help block some light. Also, this white duck is HEAVY!!! So I only interface this fabric if the window gets direct sun or if we are looking for extra  insulation on the window. Or if the fabric is thin. This fabric is thick.  Mr. Thick Thick Thickety Thickface Fabric  from Thicktown, Thickania. 

Once I have the face and linings cut, sewn, hemmed then I lay them out on the floor again and put them together . The lining is placed over the face fabric, wrong sides together. then I pull and smooth and tug again until they are perfectly lined up together. This can take a while.

The lining is placed two inches from the bottom of the face fabric. 

Then I pin the sides,  and sometimes I baste them in place. I basted these because they are so huge they move around a lot. Basting them helps me get less pins stuck in my hand. If I leave the pins in the sides, when I am working with fabric this large, it is so hard to watch out for them. 

I did get a pin stuck really deep in  my thumb.  I had to wait for the bleeding to stop  so I could go back to working. Blood and white fabric, don't mix. 

Then I measure, measure , measure and  measure once more and add in the buckram to the top and  fold it  over. I use the iron on buckram. I know there are purists out there that would never ever use iron on buckram, it is a modern invention of evil. But you know what? I like modern inventions of evil.  I have nothing against progress and I consider any iron on product progress.  You mean I can adhere it in a few minutes instead of wrangling with yards and yards of heavy white fabric at the machine?  And it looks the same as the sew in kind? Sweet! Sold!

I fold it  and mark the pleats. I use a piece of wood with the space and pleat marks drawn on it. This cuts  down on measuring time and makes it sooo much easier. 

Then I pleat the bitches sweet lovely cooperative panels.  I pin the pleats, then one by one sew them on place. 

 The next step is so band the sides.  Then add the buttons. 

Then I hang them for two weeks so I can train the pleats. And  check them over a million times . 

Then I do it all over again with the girls' room panels. Then I do it again with the guest room panels!

They are going to be awesomely gorgeous so all of the work that goes into them is well worth it.